


That Thing Robert Does

by ItFeelsLikeHome



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Cuddling, Domestic Fluff, Hugging, I Love You, Kissing, M/M, Smiles, Spoons, Washing up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-06
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2018-11-09 21:21:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11113122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItFeelsLikeHome/pseuds/ItFeelsLikeHome
Summary: It always amazes Aaron, that thing Robert does...Thanks to AbsurdDrama again on DS for the ideas about how Robert smells.





	1. The Hug

It never failed to amaze him the way Robert would grasp the opportunity at any given moment. Aaron might sometimes feign annoyance, but he would revel in all of it. And Robert was wise to Aaron’s complaints which he now knew meant that Aaron secretly enjoyed it. What Aaron loved the most about it was how natural it came to them as a couple, how it was something that was an extension of their love for each other. It didn’t matter that other people might be in the room, especially if Robert wanted to be the romantic hero that he had become an expert at playing. 

It was always when Aaron was busy undertaking a task. Like today he had started washing up after Robert had cooked them Cottage Pie. The meal had been delicious and Robert had promised them dessert upstairs - which had been equally delectable and left them in a state of delirium when their appetite for each other had been sated. However, now they had the tedious task of washing up. Yes they may have had a dishwasher in their new home, but the annoying thing had gone on the blink within the first week. Resorting to washing by hand, Robert had shirked that job because he was sometimes afraid of manual work. He allowed Aaron to do the washing up just like he allowed Aaron to wash up all week. Aaron couldn’t complain when Robert had spent the last few hours cooking a meal for them and the last hour servicing him. 

Aaron had let the water fill up the basin and was getting to work on scrubbing each item when it happened. He hadn’t even been sure where Robert was, but he was aware that his husband was in the vicinity of the kitchen: he seemed to have some sort of extra-sensory perception that could sense where Robert was at all times. Plus, his body seemed to sing whenever Robert was around. Singing and tingling were the general norm for him when it came to Robert. 

Yet the arms - those arms that Aaron relished having draped around him, savoured brushing at night as Robert was spooning him, delighted in the feel of Robert’s blond hair sprinkled across them - they gave him that tingling sensation. 

Robert swooped in, arms wrapped around Aaron’s waist as he pulled Aaron back into his body. Aaron sunk into Robert’s torso and they fitted together like Superman and his specially designed costume. Nobody else could wear the skin tight material because nobody else knew the curves and crevices of Superman just like nobody else had the expert knowledge of Aaron’s body the way that Robert did. He knew what happened when he brushed his hand against Aaron’s thigh like that or what happened when he sucked on that part of Aaron’s body. 

The way Robert pulled him in was a celestial experience that he wished he could put on constant repeat because it had him flying high with the stars and the moon. He closed his eyes waiting for that ecstasy and the thrill of it to invade all of his senses. 

Robert placed his head on Aaron’s shoulder, resting his face against husband’s stubbled cheek. ‘Hi,’ he breathed. 

A tremor thrilled its way through Aaron’s body at the titillating cocktail of Robert’s touch, voice and that tantalising spicy, oaky aftershave. ‘Hi,’ Aaron responded while he took in a deep breath to let the scent find its way into his lungs. 

But then no words were needed as Robert’s hug transported them to their own private world. They relished the touch of each other’s body and how whenever he was feeling anxious or sad, that hug could transport him to another time. It was rejuvenating, like a charger that gave life to whatever it was plugged into. When Aaron was flailing and struggling, Robert was there to power him up and surge him with love, passion and the energy that he needed.

And as he closed his eyes, he knew that Robert’s arms, their hugs, were home. Touching Robert, cuddling Robert, was home.


	2. The Smile and Spoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron marvels at Robert when he wakes up in the middle of the night and Robert does those two things...

Waking up to that sight every morning made Aaron’s body tingle with pleasure and tears prickle at the backs of his eyes. He had to bite back the sensation in his throat not to become a crumpled mess in their bedsheets every time Robert did it. 

He supposed Robert didn’t realise the effect that the two actions had on him. Maybe he was just being a soft lad, but Aaron didn’t think he’d ever tire of it. Why would he when that easy smile and those gorgeous blue-green eyes were just for him? He could never tire of seeing Robert at his most vulnerable and handsome for those brief few seconds. Considering it was Aaron that got to see it - for his eyes only - he cherished the moment even more. 

Perhaps it was that the simple action made Aaron feel like he was the luckiest man in the world, a special person, to get to see Robert like that and to know that Robert felt that way about him. 

It had started a few days after their reunion in February when Aaron had woken up in the middle of the night due to the heavy rain that hadn’t left Emmerdale in days. The patter of the rain was becoming harsher and tense with every hour that passed by, and the wind was definitely building up momentum and speed as it circled the perimeter of the Mill. 

Aaron turned to Robert, the dim light making his husband’s gorgeous features visible to him. Since that first night back in their bed, Aaron’s little ritual was to check that Robert was laid next to him when he woke up in the middle of the night. And that night was no exception: he gazed over at Robert and marvelled at the chiseled jaw and the mole near Robert’s left side-burn. Even asleep Robert was perfect. 

Robert’s eyelids flickered open and his eyes locked on to Aaron’s. His mouth produced a huge grin: a cocktail of contentment, elation, sleepiness, vulnerability and pure unadulterated love. The contentment, elation and love had been a constant on Robert’s face since they had decided they couldn’t be without each other any more. It was the look of sleepiness and vulnerability that Aaron could never get used to because in that initial moment between his sleeping and waking state, Robert’s first instinct was to smile at Aaron with a look saturated in love. His second instinct was to protectively place his arms around Aaron’s body. 

The look on Robert’s face was fleeting and brief. Before his leg jerked - a tell-tale sign that he’d fallen back into sleep - his arms encompassed Aaron’s body. Aaron moved himself back into Robert’s embrace, bum into Robert’s lap and enjoyed the spoon knowing full well that Robert’s smile made his own lips curve into an echoed smile. Then Robert gave into sleep as it coaxed him back into his dreams. 

Knowing that Robert was safe and feeling the warmth of his body next to him, Aaron closed his eyes, content, acknowledging that the special smile was just for him. Robert loved him, wanted him and needed him. That was all he wanted and needed himself: Robert. 

But that smile, well, it meant that Robert would give him the world if he asked for it, would do anything to make him happy and protect him. He would give the world to Robert in turn a thousand times over. He’d do anything he could to cushion Robert through life’s big adventures and any knocks or scrapes it might give them along the way. They were husbands, the loves of each other’s lives, soulmates and best friends. It was the little things from Robert, like that, that made Aaron love him even more because not many people knew the real Robert. They didn’t get to see him dosing in and out of consciousness, relaxed and happy.

Each time Robert gave him that loving smile and the protective spoon, Aaron’s heart swelled with the knowledge that Robert wanted to shelter him from any storm, wanted to smile at Aaron and display his love before going back to sleep. Each time it happened, that thought stayed with Aaron until he fell back asleep too. 

He was content because it was all he had ever wanted even as far back as their affair days.


	3. I Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert's declaration of love always make Aaron feel like that...

Whenever Robert said those three little words, Aaron felt his whole world tilt on its axis. They may have been small words, but the enormity of them was never lost on him. How could it be when something that he had waited for so long to hear, to have Robert mean every syllable, and look into his eyes with those refreshing blue-green pools that he always got lost in, now came as natural as the sun shining in the sky? Robert’s words weren’t seasonal but affected Aaron throughout the whole year: it made him feel like he was constantly living in an eternal summer with the amount of warmth and happiness their meaning gave to him. 

The way they were uttered every single day in a variety of different circumstances and settings meant that Aaron should get used to hearing it. After all, Robert had been declaring his love for Aaron for over three years - sometimes tearful in that love, other times quiet and steadfast, and sometimes bold and loud for everyone to hear, but never ashamed and scared of it. Robert gave the words away freely and in such a heartfelt way that Aaron had to stop what he was doing and compose himself because his legs became soft and squidgy like marshmallows. 

That day was another example. Robert had been fussing around Aaron, making sure his every desire had been catered for and checking that he was comfortable as they were watching Top Gear. It had been a week since he had been kidnapped and he knew that Robert was struggling to deal with those events. Robert’s worry had been glaringly obvious whenever he’d cried Aaron’s name in the middle of the night, as in his nightmares he’d fought Syd countless times to save Aaron. Aaron had to soothe his husband and reassure him that it was only a nightmare and them laid in bed together was the reality. 

However, that day Robert had brought him countless cups of tea and a bacon sandwich, and three slices of toast, and was asking again if he wanted anything else. ‘Rob,’ Aaron said trying to get his husband’s attention. ‘Rob,’ he tried again, as Robert was walking away back to the kitchen intent on making another cup of tea. 

Robert turned around and looked expectantly at Aaron, willing to give him the moon, the stars and the galaxy if only he’d ask for it. 

‘Come sit with me and watch Top Gear.’

‘I thought I’d load the dishwasher before the sauce gets ingrained in.’ Robert thumbed behind him into the kitchen. 

‘We can do it together later.’

‘You’re meant to be resting.’ A delve was prominent between Robert’s eyebrows. 

‘You’ve just cooked. You need a sit down.’ Aaron smoothed out the settee next to him, but Robert turned around again. Getting up from his seat, Aaron walked towards Robert’s side and pulled on his husband’s hand, turning him around gently. ‘You don’t need to wrap me up in cotton wool, Robert. I’m fine.’

‘But if they’d killed you...’ Robert stopped mid-sentence, his voice breaking and his eyes drowning in unshed tears. His gaze dropped to the ground. 

‘But they haven’t. I’m here. I’m alive.’ Aaron’s hand went to Robert’s cheek. A tear escaped Robert’s eyes and Aaron’s thumb caressed it away. 

Robert looked up from the ground, his blue-green pools focused on Aaron’s eyes. ‘If I’d have lost you, I… I don’t know what I would have done.’ The tears welling up in Robert’s eyes were bursting and ready to follow the lone one that had escaped earlier. ‘I love you, Aaron. So so much.’ 

That ‘I love you’ from Robert was full of desperation to keep Aaron safe, of regret that his husband had been hurt. It still made Aaron’s heart palpitate at a crazy speed despite the sadness it was surrounded in. Nobody had ever loved him quite so eagerly and savagely as Robert, and he never wanted anybody to love him like that apart from Robert. His life had been missing something fundamentally important in those seven months they were apart, and he knew that he didn’t want to do it again. In fact, he couldn’t do it again. 

The words made his body straighten in that all-consuming shock that he was met with whenever he heard those words, just like their wedding day in the garage when Robert called him ‘husband’ for the first time. Those words meant that it was serious. His face broke into a smile, one that he had no intention of stopping even if he wanted to. He loved hearing Robert’s declaration because Robert’s love was all he had ever wanted for so long. 

‘I know you do,’ he whispered because he knew that if he spoke any louder, his voice would break too. He was mesmerised by the colour and shape of Robert’s eyes, the way that those eyes could see right into his soul, allowing himself to be laid bare in front of Robert and loved unconditionally despite his flaws. ‘I love you.’ 

Robert captured Aaron’s chin in both his palms, bringing their lips closer together until the husbands were kissing. They started off tender and sweet until Aaron deepened the kiss. Then the idea of abandoning the dirty pots and Top Gear for something else entirely was grabbing both their attentions. 

As their hunger for each other was displayed in their eagerness to rip each other’s clothes off, Robert grabbed onto Aaron’s hand and led them to their bedroom and onto their bed. 

Robert filled Aaron up to the brim with every ounce of his love in more ways than one. As Robert was about to explode, he turned to Aaron and another declaration left his mouth. This time the ‘I love you’ was tender and matched the way their bodies moved together on their bed. It was all Aaron could ask for because it was honest and true and perfect. Aaron knew that Robert meant every single word of it. And that’s all that mattered.


	4. The Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaron likes the feel of Robert's fingers on his skin...

Robert’s fingers and thumbs were wonders 8-17 of the world. Actually, in Aaron’s estimation they were 1-10 because old wreckages of buildings and monuments didn’t interest him in the slightest. But Robert’s hands all over his body, turning him on with the smallest of touches, made every nerve ending glow with pleasure. Those hands were experts at stroking his thigh, back or penis and whipping them into a frenzy until Aaron felt like his whole body was putty in Robert’s hands. He was then pliable and willing for Robert to take him anywhere and anyhow. 

The swirling of Robert’s fingers on his lower back was normally saved for when they were both alone - a night when Liv and Gerry had been bribed to go out for their tea and Seb was tucked up asleep in bed. It wasn’t really appropriate action for a Monday evening when the four of them were trying to watch a quiz show, competing against each other for the correct answer. Aaron and Robert were sharing the settee, whilst Liv and Gerry were on the reclining chairs. 

Aaron had stopped paying attention to what topic the round was on when Robert’s hand inched its way underneath Aaron’s top. Knuckles grazed across his bare skin and slid their way up to the small of his back. And that’s when it happened: fingertips moved around creating invisible shapes and patterns on Aaron’s back. Each flourish was enticing that he had to breathe deeply to stop himself from becoming a pool of hot jelly on the floor. 

He hoped that Robert was going to ease up on the sumptuous swirls because the last time they were part of Robert’s foreplay repertoire, the two of them had ended up being late for a meal they had booked. 

About two hours late. 

Aaron had blamed Robert because those finger movements did serious things to him, devilish things that his body had no control over and he had to devour Robert instantly when they were being used. However, Robert had simply blamed him by saying that they were late due to Aaron being too sexy as usual. That was always Robert’s excuse: ‘Can I help it that my husband is too damn sexy that I can’t resist him?’

Aaron had rolled his eyes, but a warm glow suffused his cheeks everytime Robert’s pleasure in his body was audible and obvious for him to see. 

Then on the settee, Robert’s fingers didn’t stop their fluid movement as the contestants in the quiz were whittled down from six to two. Aaron was sure he was listening to an alien language because no words spoken by the contestants and quizmaster were going into his brain. Well, his ears were taking in the sounds, but his brain refused to make any sense of them. However, he didn’t care. His primary concern was that his lungs were breathing in oxygen as his whole body coursed with ecstasy. A roaring inferno was following the path of Robert’s touch and Aaron knew that nothing could dampen down the passionate flames that were nearly taking over his whole body. 

‘You better ease up on that,’ he whispered into Robert’s closeby ear. 

‘Or what?’ It was barely audible, but Aaron had been watching the movement of Robert’s mouth closely, how the words uttered had been said with a cheeky lift of those kissable lips (or blow-job lips as they were looking now) until they had moved into a sexy smile. Robert wanted him to come undone at the seams with that simple touch - that much was obvious in the way Robert’s eyes sparkled with a mischievous glint.

So it was like that then? 

‘Or Liv and Gerry are going to get more than they bargained for.’

‘I don’t know what you’re meaning.’ He raised his eyebrows and challenged Aaron, the smile still there in the corners of his mouth. 

‘You know exactly what it does to me.’

‘Oi, you two. Don’t forget there’s two other people in the room so don’t start getting any ideas,’ Liv shouted, taking her eyes off the television for a brief second to give them a steely look, before turning her attention back to it. 

Robert retrieved his hand and put it safely on Aaron’s knee. But within seconds of resting on the black material, the knuckles were grazing Aaron’s thigh and creeping dangerously close to Aaron’s crotch. Aaron held his breath wondering how his body would react to Robert touching his already hard penis. It had been woken up during Robert’s circling action earlier, and he knew that it would struggle to get back to sleep until Robert was riding him slow and steady. He couldn’t help it that Robert’s fingers had that effect on him. 

The pads of Robert’s fingers circled the perimeter of the area for what seemed like ages until a knuckle slightly grazed it. The whole of his shaft stood to attention at the contact, pulling his black jeans tighter around his already prospering stiffness. The fingers touched the skin around his crotch again, swirling quicker and quicker, making Aaron moan under his breath in anticipation of another form of contact. His breath became ragged and laboured, and he was sure that either Liv or Gerry would turn around again and tell them to get a room. 

Nothing came of it, which meant that Robert was getting more daring and mischievous. His knuckles finally brushed against Aaron’s hard-on but instead of a fleeting brush, and moving back over to Aaron’s stomach or thigh, Robert’s knuckles flowed up and down Aaron’s stiffness. 

And, oh God, it felt so good. Too good for Aaron to ignore, as Robert fingered the stiffness with those delicious fingertips of his. Aaron knew he couldn’t continue to sit there and pretend that it wasn’t happening, despite the fact that he wished it was happening. Because that feeling that Robert’s touch instilled in him, was one of the best feelings in the world. One that he never wanted to give up ever again.

He grabbed onto Robert’s hand as it continued fingering his stiffness, stood up and yanked Robert to his feet as well. ‘Robert, you need to help me with that thing,’ he said by way of an excuse for their abrupt leaving. The words came out garbled and rushed, but he didn’t get care. 

‘What thing?’ Robert asked nonchalantly which juxtaposed the smirk sitting on his lips. He followed Aaron across their open plan living space and climbed the spiral staircase as best they could knowing that too quick a footfall could leave one of them falling down it. 

‘Oh, God. Are they going to be at it for another hour?’ Liv’s voice was audible downstairs as he quickly opened their bedroom door. 

‘Shall I turn the sound up again after last time?’ Gerry’s voice questioned. 

He didn’t give two flying figs what they thought about the two of them. His only intention was pushing Robert against their bedroom wall and feeling the wonderful sensation of Robert’s lips on him before Robert finally had him coming away at the seams. Robert rode him until they were both in their own private nirvana. And as they laid there, basking in the after-effects of their love, Aaron knew what the number one wonder of the world was: Robert. 

Because every day and in every way, Aaron’s love for Robert was becoming greater and more amazing than he ever thought it could be. 

Robert was an amazing wonder, and he was so glad they had found their way back to each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Any comments are greatly appreciated. :-)


End file.
